


Walled in With Eagle's Wings

by sparklight



Series: Courting Ganymede [8]
Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: Dom/sub Undertones, Fear of Giant Eagles Adressed, Fluff, Flying, M/M, Power Dynamics, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26736424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklight/pseuds/sparklight
Summary: Ganymede was struck with a love of flying even in a moment where one could expect him to gain a deep aversion from it, and he has loved it ever since. He's flown held in the arms of both Eros and some of the other Erotes. He's flown many times in the chariots drawn by the gods' divine horses, Zeus as well as Hebe at his side.He has flown with Zeus carrying him only once, and he intends to rectify this. Even if - or rather especially because - there's some hesitation lingering about the whole thing. There are several rewards from this, and the least of it might be inventing a form of extreme sports no one will be able to replicate for a couple thousand years yet.
Relationships: Ganymede/Zeus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Series: Courting Ganymede [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672690
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Walled in With Eagle's Wings

The air was cool enough Ganymede had pulled on a tunic today, though he hadn't even ventured outside yet. Olympos was always just a little softer, milder and warmer than the actual weather or season might dictate it should be, but that didn't mean the mountain of the deathless gods escaped natural cycle completely. Frost clung to the grass and leaves during the night and into early morning by now. Later there might be a dusting of snow on the ground, though never covering the paths that ran through the gardens, between the palaces, or down to the gate. It was pretty, but Ganymede wasn't looking forward to it. He wasn't much enamoured of cold, so he could easily say he was terribly grateful that the weather always did stay milder and a little warmer on Olympos.

Despite this he was going to see if Zeus might want to make an excursion today. The amount of suffering this would lead to for Ganymede was bound to be minimal, so he would sacrifice that much of his comfort. Especially when the reward would be so much greater, both in the form of Zeus' probable happiness and pleasure as well as his own enjoyment.

In the service of that, then, Ganymede slipped into Zeus' study, a bowl in one hand and a kantharos in the other, closing the door just as Zeus looked up. His gray eyes lightened to the colour of steely morning, and Ganymede's heart tripped over itself for a beat; his smile was impossible to suppress or hide.

"A little late for breakfast, my prince, and that is certainly not enough for a midday meal," Zeus said, arching an eyebrow over a smile of his own. It was more pointed than Ganymede's was, but only because of the teasing tone lurking in his voice. Ganymede managed to suppress his laughter, at least, and sniffed instead.

"Whoever said all of this was for you, my lord?"

The second eyebrow joined the first as Zeus stared at him, for a moment apparently genuinely taken aback, and Ganymede almost faltered. But Zeus wasn't angry, and after a moment he burst out laughing while Ganymede forced himself to cross the floor with no apparent hesitation, put the kantharos in front of him but offering the bowl to the golden eagle sitting on a sturdy support marked with its claws by the window. Exhaling a small, hidden breath of relief, Ganymede smiled at the eagle and stroked its shining head and neck, crowned rich golden against the various shades of darker brown of the rest of its feathers.

"Since you have come with something for both of us, I'm inclined to take no offense," Zeus said, and Ganymede, though he was already assured he had done nothing wrong, was a little further relieved for the humour in Zeus' voice. It was fine. And why wouldn't it be? He'd not yet found any limits to Zeus' indulgence. That didn't mean there weren't any, but hopefully that meant they were far out of his reach. Still, as Ganymede explored those reaches, it was a little daunting, though he'd been here well over two decades by now. Daunting in that sort of way that set your stomach into tickling vertigo by swimming further out from the beach than you should, risking currents and waves to take you. He'd always been scolded for taking such risks, which meant that any attempt at swimming in the sea had to be kept secret and few, if at all. Mostly he'd accepted swimming in the Scamander instead, and it was a great place for the royal children of Troy to swim, aside from one of those rare chances to see their grandfather.

No such safe waters to retreat to now, but Ganymede thought he might not need them.

"I come with something else as well," Ganymede said, not allowing himself to hesitate or flounder, turning from the eagle after it was done consuming the bloody chunks of meat in the bowl. Putting the bowl down on the edge of the desk before he approached Zeus, he slid in behind him, away from the warm, intent stare the god had trained on him. Biting his lip, shyly hesitant to ask now that he was so close to do so, but not hesitant in the least about winding his arms around Zeus' neck and drape his hands down over his broad chest, Ganymede leaned his cheek against the silky fall of hair.

"And what might that be?"

Zeus was smiling. Ganymede could hear it in his voice, though he could only see the very edge of it from this angle, curving his cheek sweetly. If he'd been watching him straight on, his throat would’ve closed up and he would surely have lost another moment to an entirely different hesitation. As it was, his chest still warmed, knowing what that smile looked like, knowing what Zeus felt for him, obvious as it was in said smile. It was still a little dizzying, whenever he dared to think of it with a sense of examination and distance.

This was not that time. Not for any length greater than it took him to feel the yawning vastness of it; after that it was firmly pushed away, if only by his nervous, anticipatory focus on the business he'd come in here for.

"A request, piḫaššaššiš," Ganymede murmured into Zeus' soft hair, rubbing his cheek against it before he continued, "come fly with me."

There it was. Something tight and nervous in his gut unwound at having asked, for all that Ganymede was utterly sure Zeus would neither refuse him unless he was inescapably busy, nor that he would dislike it. But it was... well. This wasn't all. Zeus' laugh rumbled in his chest and made a buzzing sensation tickle Ganymede's skin, and there was a large hand reaching up, winding around Ganymede's thick curls and using that handhold to pull him down.

"And have you already prepared a chariot, darling Ganymede?" Zeus asked, a smile in his voice, on his lips where they spelled the words out right against own, and Ganymede caught his bottom lip between his teeth and didn't squirm as he shook his head.

"I don't want it to be by chariot, Zeus. I'd like---" Oh, this was harder than he thought it'd be, but he wanted it, and so wouldn't let memory and nerves hinder him. "I'd like for _you_ to fly. To carry me as you fly."

Silence.

Ganymede looked down after a moment, into those mesmerizing gray eyes, close as they were, and he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He wasn't even sure he could feel his body any more, having no sensation of where the back of Zeus' chair cut into the bottom of his chest, only a sense of warmth where his arms and hands should have been resting against Zeus' chest, not even sure where the floor was any longer. A wondering little noise broke the spell, and Ganymede had the chance to suck in a needed breath before Zeus kissed him, leaving him struggling more for air than he'd been just a moment earlier. Still, as Zeus eased up, if only so that Ganymede could straighten up before he was pulled around to stand between Zeus' great thighs, the look on that stunning face was somewhere between something that stole Ganymede's breath again and something that threatened the return of his earlier tension.

"As an eagle, Ganymede?" Zeus arched an eyebrow, his expression sharpening, now. "And you're sure about that?"

The question wasn't unwarranted, honestly. But that Zeus was asking firmed his want of it, as well as disintegrating the last bits of tension that'd tried to return. Even if there also was Zeus' hands low on his thighs, thumbs running circles against the fabric in a way that was terribly distracting and might have seemed to make Zeus' question less earnest if one couldn't hear the weight in his voice, see the steely shade of his eyes.

"As whatever you'd feel like right now, but yes. I'm sure. And... I wouldn't mind it if it _was_ an eagle you wanted to be." He smiled, reaching out to brush fingertips over Zeus's jaw, through the neat half-curls of his beard. There was no longer any tension, just a quiet, bird-like fluttering in his chest that might have been apprehension for several different reasons, but he was indeed determined. Maybe partially because he wanted more than those unpleasant memories attached to that shape, though he'd come to enjoy some of the flight. It was such a small thing, and it would never be entirely pleasant to remember, but he wanted to own those memories, own the experience in a way flying in a chariot, Zeus beside him, didn't quite do.

"What are you, beloved, to surprise me still?" Zeus shook his head, and though he'd asked it, it wasn't really a question, so Ganymede stayed quiet while Zeus reached up, cupping his face in his hand. Ganymede, not quite able to stand the stare aimed at him, turned his face to hide it against Zeus' great palm and kissed it. Zeus chuckled and Ganymede found himself smiling. "But certainly. If that is your wish, I am of no mind other than to grant it, darling Ganymede."

That he didn't question Ganymede's decision any further than that Ganymede was terribly grateful for. He could, and would have, defended his decision if he had to, but that Zeus let him make it without further prodding wasn't just a relief, as that was easier. It also made him feel like he was allowed to make mistakes, if this did turn out to be one, and Zeus would only make sure he was right there to make him feel better, not stop it from happening. Well, unless it'd physically endanger him, of course, but that was why Ganymede hadn't ever said anything about how he was sometimes tossed between the Erotes in the air when he went flying with them. 

What Zeus didn't - presumably - know wouldn't hurt Ganymede's freedom to do stupid stuff. Aside from that, he didn't think he would regret this decision.

"Thank you, my lord." 

Ganymede lifted a hand to briefly hold Zeus' hand more firmly in place, just for a moment, and though most of his vision was half-shaded darkness from behind Zeus' fingers, in the corner of his vision he saw Zeus' face soften and warm, his brilliant eyes liquid and shining. Ganymede's stomach twisted and then warmth bloomed out, even at such a slanted sight of it. He didn't know how he could be worth such a look from one of the Deathless Ones, even less the king of Olympos himself, but it was not the first, and such looks had certainly not diminished as the years turned to decades. They more seemed to have increased in frequency, and Ganymede could only soak them up and be pleased. It was a little reassuring, too, what with Danaë - but he didn't want to think about that. Not now, and he wasn't sure later, either, and he certainly hadn't been thinking about it much in the last two weeks, either. (Feeling upset at it felt like taking something he wasn't allowed, considering what he was, between Zeus and Hera.) So, not thinking about it it was. 

"... Now?"

"That was why you asked me, wasn't it?" Zeus asked and Ganymede smiled against the large palm he was still hiding his face against. He'd hoped, certainly, and nothing had given him the impression Zeus was, or would be, so busy today wouldn't be a good day to ask, but that didn't mean he might not have missed something. Of course, sometimes even when Zeus was busy Ganymede could convince him otherwise - he just made sure to be judicious with the use of such a power, which also made sure Zeus was all the more amenable to be convinced he wasn't as busy as he thought. So yes, that was why he'd asked today and why Zeus stood up with a chuckle and, with a hand in the small of Ganymede's back, led the way through the corridors to the nearest exit to the garden.

A flat, grassy spot next to a seating arrangement and a fountain gave them the space needed, and Zeus, with a last brush of fingers to Ganymede's cheek, stepped forward. Ganymede had seen him turn from bird to man once, but he'd been pretty distracted. Distracted and overwhelmed and upset, though Zeus had been able to distract him from that last with new distractions. Watching now, he could feel the power weighing the air down, crackling between his teeth when he shifted his jaw, and Zeus sort of... melted between one form and the other, in a way that finally forced Ganymede to squeeze his eyes shut. Zeus could probably change in a quick flash, but there was clear enjoyment on his face before Ganymede had to look away. When he opened his eyes again there was only a golden eagle in front of him, easily large enough its head reached towards the bottom of his chest where it stood on the ground.

It was, plainly, huge. Monstrous, in fact.

Ganymede would have to lie to say his heart didn't skip an uneasy beat at the sight of the huge, curved claws and giant meathook beak, all of them gleaming like purest, polished bronze in the late autumn sunlight. This eagle could rip a man apart with barely a turn of its head, and could lift more than a slender, if tall, teenager off the ground with no trouble at all. Ganymede swallowed heavily and looked up, away from the claws and past the beak. The eagle's eyes, endless gray like a clouded-over sky, and familiar no matter the form Zeus wore, settled the fluttery, watery feeling in his chest.

Still, he stepped up in to the eagle only slowly, but Zeus didn't move and let him approach on his own, which was a sharp contrast to how this had happened the first time. Of course, the circumstances now were certainly so far and beyond the situation back then there was no comparing them, but Zeus himself was no different now than he'd been then. Not expecting the king of the gods to _not_ take charge of a situation would be quite silly. But he waited, soft autumn breeze stirring his feathers, and as Ganymede reached out to bury his hands into them around his neck, he let out a squeaky little screech that was so much like his own eagle despite the size difference between them, that Ganymede couldn't help himself and burst out laughing.

"Insulting me by laughing isn't the way to convince me to do this, my prince," Zeus said, his voice, like it'd been back then, slightly disconnected from his eagle shape and setting the air to trembling with its rolling quality. Ganymede flushed, trying to stop laughing and ending on a breathless giggle, which caused the eagle to cock its head and chirp, so he supposed they were even, now.

"Not an insult, love," he said when he finally could talk without laughing _or_ giggling. There was the urge to lean in and kiss the beak, or lean his head against the side of the eagle's own sleekly shaped one, but the nervous quiver, unpleasant memory still lingering and perfectly normal fear of monstrously-sized birds of prey stopped him. It didn't matter that he knew he was utterly safe with this eagle, even if he'd been completely naked and once again carried in its claws. Zeus would not so much as scratch him, even if he was struggling. "You just sounded exactly like your eagle, when you're so much larger, still."

He smiled, skipping past earnest since his tone was speaking for him, and made it teasingly coy instead, lowering his lashes. Zeus did what must be the bird version of an amused huff and stretched a wing out, light catching in the feathers and turning them bronzed, too, though more living such, to lightly butt him with it. Then he turned around, and Ganymede was for a started moment left staring at the sleekly feathered back before he understood.

"Oh. I thought..." 

Actually, he wasn't sure how he'd imagined that they would do this, but him half laying on the eagle's back, arms still around Zeus' neck, did seem a much better way than how it'd been done the first time. There were worse ways to be carried, most certainly, all of those involving claws around sensitive bits that would've had him frozen stiff in fear of being cut up even if Zeus wouldn't have, or dangling from the eagle's claws with it having a grip on his clothing. On the other hand, there was also better ways to carry someone than Zeus clutching his hips and Ganymede only by reflex having thrown his arms around the eagle’s neck.

"This will be better for both of us," Zeus said, and that was probably as close as he would get to admit it hadn't exactly gone very well the first time, even if he'd tried. But honestly, unless he'd come down and turned back to human shape to kiss him right in that meadow and _then_ turn back and grab him while he was still distracted by that, Ganymede didn't think there was any way Zeus could have convinced him to hold onto a giant eagle in a better way.

But he was here, now, and doing this entirely willingly. Was doing this because he'd asked, in fact.

The feathers still smelled of that sharp and sweet _something_ Ganymede had no idea what it might be, as well as the wind-buffed rain smell that betrayed Zeus no matter what, as he cautiously laid himself over the eagle's back. His legs on either side of its body behind the wings, and he ended up practically hugging the thick but still fragile-seeming neck. Ganymede would not admit it was something of a relief to be out of the direct path of either beak or claws, because that fear was starting to feel ridiculous. It was nonetheless true as he shifted around a little until Zeus chirruped again.

" _Relax_ , Ganymede. Your weight is nothing, as it always will be, regardless of what shape I wear."

Laughing a little sheepishly, Ganymede managed to actually do that much at least, pushing away his worry that he would somehow be too much for Zeus to carry when he carried him this way, compared to carrying him partially in his claws. Under him, the eagle shifted, spread its wings and took two running hops. It would have been funny, except the wings started beating at the same time, and the leashed strength and power of them as each buffeting beat lifted them a little in the air until they were airborne on the third hop, was obvious. Ganymede's breath caught for it, and then he had to force it out and remind himself to breathe as the palace garden fell away in a spiral under them, the air in his lungs fresh but not biting.

They passed over the walls, a flicker of polished stone blocks towering at incomprehensible heights mingling with the cool, insubstantial touch of cloud against his face and arms, and then there was the earthly Olympos underneath them, far further below than the heavenly one had been just a moment or two earlier. Bare, grassy mountain meadows turned to forests covering the mountainside as Zeus followed the mountain in a wide circle to fly away towards the south. They left Olympos' southern side behind with only spare tree coverage, and Ganymede rather missed the lush view of oaks and firs. It mattered little as the land now spread out under them in a tapestry of interconnected valleys and fields and mountains, like a complicated puzzle. It was nothing he hadn't seen before, having had plenty of chances to fly over the peninsula since he'd been taken to Olympos, but it didn't make the view any less breathtaking.

Clinging to the eagle's feathered back it was far easier to tell exactly how fast they were going, and also to tell whenever Zeus slowed down to coast at natural speed, allowing Ganymede the time to fully take in the view below. In a chariot, the horses' thundering, air-eating gallop made everything a rush; counting out the wingbeats while he peered around the sleek neck and looking down on the ground between Zeus' head and the beating wing, the land below seemed to skip and jump with every rise and fall the wings. Zeus slowed again to skim along the southern coast of Euboea, forests once again stretching out on the left side, so very far below them what should have been land seemed nothing more than exquisite embroidery, a map of the sorts only the gods could yet make.

It made Ganymede wonder, not for the first time after seeing views such as this, if humans would ever be able to see the world like this, without going so far as to infringe on the realm of the gods. He rather hoped so, but it was a thought he would keep private.

They passed the straits by Calchis and Aulis, and then the view flittered by again, settling on endless, shining water - and Zeus tucked the vast span of his lofty wings close to his body and dove.

"Wai---! Zeus!" Ganymede shrieked, and then started laughing, breathless and weightless as the wind tore at them, tore at his body enough to lift him away from the warm feathers under him. Only his arms wrapped around the eagle's neck kept him anchored to the giant eagle, but compared to his hesitation of the claws and beak, despite telling himself he was safe, there was no fear, here. 

Even if he lost his grip, Zeus would catch him.

Still, while it might be tempting, he didn't let go. _Certainly_ didn't do so when Zeus snapped his wings out again with a triumphant shriek. It echoed over the waves and bore them up again, then he dove once more, twisting around in the air and turning the glitter of sunlight on water below into a dizzying swirl of light. Briefly, as Zeus evened out, they were low enough the spray from the waves misted them in a cool breath, prickling as the water hit his skin.

Ganymede tried to find words, whether that was recrimination for startling him so, exultation for the delightful scare, or a pointed question of what Zeus would have done if he would have lost his grip. Any words at all, but the only thing that came out was more breathless laughter, half smothered against the feathers of the eagle's neck, half ripped away by the wind around them as Zeus slowly rose skyward again. He could feel Zeus laughing from the vibrating rumble through the warm body underneath him.

"You are an uncommon treasure, sweetest Ganymede, your beauty second to what delights you, things most mortals would shy away from," Zeus said, his voice, compared to Ganymede's, unimpeded by the wind rushing around them, tugging at Ganymede's curls and Zeus' feathers. Briefly, Ganymede clutched closer at Zeus' neck, hiding both his face and smile against the feathers, shy warmth fighting against the faint chill of the air that would surely be far crueler if he wasn't so close to divine heat.

"Most of those mortals wouldn't be assured to be caught by divine arms if they fell from such a height, if they could get out over the sea and up in the air like this," Ganymede pointed out, a particular archness in his tone completely at odds with the flushed happiness in his belly. Zeus laughed, the human sound only a suggestion under the eagle's high, trilling version of it; the depths of it was only obvious in how it made Ganymede's bones vibrate.

"A small amount might be reassured in the face of such protection, but most would not _willingly_ toss themselves out in the air, such countless height between them and the unforgiving ground or eagerly swallowing water." Zeus' voice was pointed and dry, and definitely carried an edge. He did not need to turn his head to aim a huge, silver-shifting eye on Ganymede for him to realize that Zeus was very well aware of what he sometimes did with the Erotes. Blushing bright red, he turned away from the weighted stare and buried his face back among the feathers, hiding there until he had words to say anything at all.

"You never stopped me," he said after a while, which wasn't an apology, but Ganymede wasn't sure that was what Zeus was looking for - and it would be an entirely insincere one, if that was what Zeus _did_ want.

"I would have, and will, should they ever fail to catch you, punished the lot of them if you ever come to harm for such a reckless game," Zeus' said and broke off into an eagle's raw, challenging hunting cry, as if his current form dictated the need for a more animal response at even the possibility of such a thing happening. Ganymede rolled his eyes, but he could not deny he was smiling a little, too. "But you suggested it yourself."

That wasn't a question, and Ganymede smothered his sheepishly guilty noise against Zeus' softly feathered neck, well-aware that could not save him from being heard. It was indeed the truth, even if Zeus had probably guessed that it was he and not Eros who had suggested it first.

"I did." Sighing the confession into the darkness of Zeus' neck, Ganymede waited. What for, he wasn't sure, because he didn't think Zeus would now decide to say he couldn't do something like that again, but there was a tension in the air, in the muscles working underneath him to keep them both aloft.

"We do not always have to fly with chariots," Zeus said after a couple moments of coasting silence while Ganymede watched the endless march of frothy white on the heads of the waves below, as well as the fins of dolphins occasionally leaping up from the water and, once, a herd of hippocampi racing through the waves. Arching his eyebrows, Ganymede pulled away a little, so he could look towards the eagle's head, but Zeus was turned forward and didn't look back at him. Ganymede wouldn't say he'd sounded hesitant, as such, but he'd also not sounded _not hesitant_. It was as close as Zeus would probably come to uncertainty, if that was what the faint tension was about at all. 

Years ago Ganymede would've dismissed it as reading the god wrong. A little over two decades ago, so newly arrived as he'd been, he would have missed it entirely. Now...

"Please," he said with a smile that grew like gentle dawn, bright and coloured with all the warmth that came with the sun. Not being told to stop going flying with his friends was good. This was even better, especially so now that he'd asked for this and it was working out as best as he could have hoped for. Whyever would he refuse to fly this way more often with Zeus now that it was apparently on the table as a possibility? The eagle chirped, and Ganymede manfully swallowed his amused little snigger, digging his fingers in among the feathers in something that was closer to petting than a caress. But well, Zeus' current form lent itself to such very easily.

"Sit up, beloved," Zeus slowed further, the wind a bare caress against them as he turned his head to glance at Ganymede, eagle eye unreadable, "and keep your legs tight about me."

Eyebrows flying up on his forehead, Ganymede took a steadying breath and then navigated around until he could push himself upright, legs over the base of the eagle's wings and bent in under the sleek, heavy body that was, he was sure, a lot more solid than a real eagle, even one of this size, would have been. That difference, that reminder of Zeus' divinity, was reassuring considering all the moving about he was doing, so high up in the air. "Like this? Zeus, wha---!"

He screamed when Zeus dropped again, clenching tight with what felt like his whole body. His hair half blinding him, Ganymede shook his head against the wind, against his better judgement, perhaps, and clamped his thighs and calves even tighter as he felt himself lift off a little from Zeus' back. Staring down at the steep angle of distant but approaching water, light catching off the bronze beak now _below_ him, Ganymede thought his heart would fly out of his chest as he was pressed back and _up_ by the wind, by the eagle's sharp descent.

He threw his arms out and his scream turned into a whoop.

Drops sprayed over them with a scatter of tiny rainbows as the eagle turned sharply upwards again, Ganymede grunting as he was smacked down against the eagle's back, then he yelped as he started to tilt _backwards_. Hurriedly, his heart going from his throat to lodged deep in his gut, he buried his hands in the feathers at the base of the eagle's neck.

" _Zeus_!" That was as much a nervous laugh as it was a protest, and the eagle trilled a cry as it circled upwards again, not acknowledging his complaint but still smoothing out in its ascent.

Smiling wildly, Ganymede was still grateful for the chance to shift back to laying against Zeus' back as soon as they were coasting again, and breathed out his relief in a sigh that was half giddy vertigo. This was something he couldn't do with the Erotes - well, unless they chose to change shape, but it'd never come up - for while they'd certainly dived with him in their arms or with him clinging to their backs, he was always held very tightly that way. 

This was... well, he was certainly fine with keeping this to something he would trust Zeus alone with.

They flew over the waters, islands flashing past down below like citrines and emeralds set in the gray-blue silver of a belt, and Ganymede watched the view speeding by until he frowned, looking up to the eagle's head again. 

"Where are we going, anyway?"

They hadn't yet turned back; the sun was on a steady path in the direction it'd been going since Zeus had set out over the Aegean, and while Ganymede hadn't had any plans at all to ask for some particular destination for this since the point had just been Zeus, in the air, with him, most probably as an eagle. At some point between them leaving Zeus' study and now, it seemed _Zeus_ had picked a destination, however. The eagle cocked its head, the shifting colour of its pale eye beautifully mesmerizing in the exact same way Zeus' eyes always were, just much more easily seen at this size, chirped in a way that was _definitely_ smug, then turned to look forward again. Ganymede huffed and rolled his eyes, but relaxed against the eagle's back, willing to wait for whatever this surprise destination turned out to be.

And he had to wait, for this was taking longer than he thought it would, even with Zeus' divine speed. When they passed over what Ganymede was reasonably sure was Cyprus, he frowned, looking back over his shoulder as the island disappeared in the distance. Might not have been, of course, but he was getting familiar with what Achaea, the islands in the Aegean, and Anatolia looked like on a map, aside from seeing at least some of it from so far above quite often. If that had been Cyprus, then they certainly weren't going to Kemet, not in the direction they were going.

They hit Phoenicia's coast - at least Ganymede assumed that would be Phoenicia - and Zeus turned south. The view flickered past in great, blurry leaps with every wingbeat again, water on the right side, land on the left. The air was still cool, but as the eagle started descending in wide circles over a lake, it warmed up, and soon Ganymede would have been warm again even if he wasn't clinging to the back of an eagle that was in actuality a god.

The air was dry and tasted of salt despite that they were far from the sea when the eagle came to a soft landing, and Ganymede slid off the feathered back with confused hesitation. The shore was rocky, and closer to the water there was a hard, whitish crust that threw the sunlight into his eyes like the uncounted spears from an army, sharp and unforgiving. It was strangely quiet aside from the soft brush of a warm autumn breeze and the quiet cluck of water against the shore. There were birds up in the sky, but the lake shore was empty of any obvious animal life a place like this, watering hole that it was in a very dry land and devoid of human life nearby, would normally attract.

"... Piḫaššaššiš? _Why_ are we here?" It was a little unsettling actually, and Ganymede almost jumped out of his skin when a lizard ran in front of his feet and the eagle butted its head against his back, staggering him forward half a step. " _Zeus_ , what?"

Turning around, Ganymede squawked in startled surprise as he was butted again, losing his balance. Immediately, one of those giant wings, longer than he was tall, caught his fall and lowered him to the ground while the eagle stepped in. It loomed over him as the wings were spread out, casting a cool shadow over the young man now laying on the ground. Staring up into huge, silvery eyes, pale like mist in the bright desert sunlight, Ganymede raised a hand and buried it to his wrist in the thick fluff of feathers around the eagle's chest.

"Okay, now you're just being weird," Ganymede murmured, trying to avoid looking at the beak, looming large in his vision, "what _is_ it?"

The eagle chirped and then lurched forward. 

Ganymede, being only human and no matter that he knew what and who this giant feathered monster actually was, yelled and reflexively tried to push the eagle away from him. He froze at the first brush of hard, bronze beak - it either actually was as metal as it looked, or just harder than a regular bird's beak - against his cheek, followed by the smooth caress of feathers against his skin. The hand buried in the feathers of the eagle's chest trembled once, and then Ganymede threw his other arm around the eagle's neck and leaned up, burying his face there while that terrible, wicked beak preened his curls.

His laugh might have been a little watery, but it spilled out honestly enough. At least he didn't actually have to explain more than he already had about why he'd so pointedly said Zeus _could_ choose the eagle shape, but he wasn't sure he was so enamoured of Zeus' chosen method!

Well, that was probably to be expected.

With a groan, Ganymede slumped back down onto the hard ground, sprawled out in acceptance. He did tense a little when Zeus lowered his head again, but he didn't flinch and his heart didn't speed up. Not even at the gentle, tiny little nip the eagle took in the crook of his neck. He squirmed, though, shying away from the pinch. 

"Hey, no, not _that_!"

The eagle paused, and Ganymede, realizing what he'd just given up in the wavering half-laugh of his protest, turned his head to meet one of those huge, gray eyes, its colour shifting faintly in the light.

"My lord, plea _se_!" The plea turned into a yelp as the eagle nipped him again, the tiny pinch shooting a wriggly chill right down into Ganymede's spine, and one nip became two and then more. The wings spread over Ganymede shouldn’t be heavy, but they offered little space to move around in while one large, terribly-clawed foot curved over one of Ganymede's thighs to pin him to the ground. He squirmed and shouted for mercy as one might most certainly expect to do, being pinned under a monstrous bird of prey as he was, though perhaps not for the _reason_ that he was. Ganymede would, up until now, have said he wasn't ticklish.

Apparently he was wrong.

"Zeus!" Laughter turned his protest unsteady while the eagle rubbed its whole face once more against his cheek and throat, then nipped him again. "If I--- _shit_. If I ever pleased your eyes, or seemed fair walled in with eagle's wings, then turn back! Turn back now."

His hands were shaking too much - from breathlessness and laughter, not fear - to shove that huge, sleek head away with any effectiveness, so Zeus ignored him, though he finally stopped tickling him with those infernal nips. Ganymede could feel the great chest of the eagle vibrate with Zeus' silent laughter, and he huffed, shoving at him.

"An eagle might be majestic in the air, but on the ground he's of little use, love."

"Is that so?" There was a growl to Zeus' echoing voice, but there was a toothy smile on his face when there was once more a smiling face to see as Zeus turned back, much more quickly than he'd changed into eagle shape.

"I dare say so, yes," Ganymede said, voice still a little breathy, reaching up and winding his arms around Zeus' neck. He stared up at his god, who turned being on all fours a thing of predatory grace and power, similar to a great cat sitting over a kill, and not the clumsy imitation mortal bodies were restricted to. Zeus was backlit by sunlight, his dark hair like banks of storm clouds with the sun shining through, and Ganymede tightened his grip as his chest bloomed with warmth and his knees turned weak, even if he didn't need the support when he was already lying down. "What _are_ we doing here, my lord?"

That smug grin on Zeus' face turned soft, and the hand he raised to brush a couple errant curls behind Ganymede's ears in a gentle if entirely futile touch, was as careful as if he was touching the most fragile of glass. The kiss was not at all as careful, and the contrast made Ganymede dizzy long before his shortening breath and the divine weight of Zeus did. 

As Zeus pulled back, he pushed one hand in under Ganymede's back and stood up, setting Ganymede on his feet that way. Or well, he would have, if Zeus wasn't far taller than Ganymede was, and with Ganymede clinging with his arms around Zeus' neck and Zeus' hand at the small of his back, keeping him pressed against his body, there was nothing but air beneath Ganymede's feet. The Deathless Ones, after all, were far taller than mortals, and even the shortest among them reached head and shoulders above Ganymede; Zeus was taller than that.

They both laughed as Ganymede kicked a foot, dangling there for a moment. Then Zeus did set him down, a broad hand swallowing his shoulder.

"A swim, as long as you don't try to dive under the water as you're wont to do. The water is salty enough that would be uncomfortable, and swimming will be hard for it."

"Why would how salt the water is make it harder to swim in it?" Ganymede, while never one to turn down a swim, was eyeing the serene lake with a little frown. "And it's safe? It's so quiet and still, here..."

Not that he believed for a moment Zeus would take him somewhere he'd take actual harm from, but no longer distracted by a giant eagle tickling him with its terrifying beak and keeping him pinned to the ground by claws and wings, Ganymede was once again reminded of his first impression of the lake. It was an impression that didn't change as he surveyed their surroundings.

"Safe enough I am quite sure you'll want to come back, beloved," Zeus said with a chuckle, squeezing the shoulder under his hand, "and ask me later about the salt, or ask Apollo. We're not here for a lesson."

Shooting a curious look up at Zeus, for now he was even more intrigued, Ganymede was still more inclined to agree about not being here for a lesson. Besides, he could investigate in this himself, even if there would be no immediate explanation. With a grin, he stripped off his clothes and waded out into the water, curiously licking off a finger after dipping a hand in and instantly shuddering. It really was far saltier than even the ocean! Maybe because it was clearly a lake, if a vast one, and thus the salt was more concentrated..? Well, questions to save for later. For now, Ganymede _did_ find Zeus was correct; it really wasn't a simple task to swim even when he was deep enough he should otherwise have an easy time to do so. Splashing around aimlessly for a moment, Ganymede finally kicked off the bottom and let himself float.

Which turned out to be far easier than it'd been to try to swim. Far easier than it usually was to float in water.

"What..?" Looking around the water, then to Zeus, still standing on the shore and his eyes sparkling with pleased amusement, Ganymede laughed and kicked the water, sending himself slowly bobbing more in place than in any particular direction. "This is great!"

Ganymede's voice echoed across the lake, shattering the crystal air with his delight, and Zeus' smile widened. Not bothering with the pretence of human limits, he got rid of his clothes and strode out into the water, commanding the space as fully as he did walking through Olympos’ corridors. 

Zeus, compared to Ganymede, did not float. 

It wasn't that the Deathless Ones couldn't swim or couldn't float on the water, though those tied to water in various ways took less effort to do so; it was more a matter of their divine weight. To fly without taking wings, the gods made themselves into part of the air, will alone steering them. To float in the water, ocean or lake, they had to do the same, and Zeus was less of water than he was of the sky, so it took him more of actual thought. Ganymede felt it like a tingling prickle through the water as Zeus shifted himself, both lighter and heavier than he should be, and then he was right there beside him, floating like he truly was no heavier than Ganymede was and the water truly could hold all that terrible weight.

With a grin, Ganymede twisted around in the water, turning himself onto his stomach and folding his arms over Zeus' stomach in turn, resting his chin on top of his folded arms. A decade ago he might not have felt so daring to be so frivolous, but what had begun with Zeus' pointed permission that he was allowed to touch him was now a flower nearly in full bloom. That Zeus only smiled at him, warm and indulgent and the weight of him practically wrapped around Ganymede to keep him where he was, ensured there was no chance for that little flower to wither.

"And this is how you treat the king of the gods?" Not even Zeus' words gainsaid any of the warmth in his eyes for as pointed as those words were, and Ganymede tilted his head, gaze half shielded by his lashes.

"I would kneel if that is your wish, my lord," Ganymede said and meant every word, and though he could have teased and still meant it, there was only flushed sincerity in his voice as he spoke, "but the water would pose some trouble, and I can't breathe anything but air."

Now that, that was a little teasing, and Zeus laughed. The great sound of it rolled out over the water, warmed it while at the same time cooling the air to fresh sweetness in the cloudless autumn heat as he reached out and tipped Ganymede's face back up with a grip on his chin.

"I know you would." Zeus' voice was no more than a murmur, pitch dropped low and sweetly dark while the large thumb against Ganymede's lips pressed down lightly, gentle. It was perhaps a little smug, a little possessive, that touch and those words, but if so they were soft enough to reveal depths few would be privy to. 

Ganymede would kneel and more besides, if Zeus commanded it. Not that he needed to _command_ , but there was enjoyment in it - sometimes guiltily confused such, since maybe Ganymede shouldn't take such delight in it. It was something he wasn't sure how to look at yet, but Zeus was a god, wasn't it his right? And if it didn't feel stifling, what harm was there? If it was wanted, why could he not enjoy it? The eagle might have terrified him when it first came out of the sky, and while the beak and claws were still no less potentially deadly, those great wings around him were not the cage they could be. 

"And for such, no less other reasons besides, are you the delight of my heart and thoughts both, my prince."

Ganymede said nothing - would say nothing, for the way his heart quivered for it - about the brief, wavering light in Zeus' eyes, the way his mouth pulled in a light twist. He'd call it consternation, if he dared. A lingering proof he wasn't the only one who had been, maybe continued to be, confused about this sometimes, even with Zeus being a god, and the ruler of Olympos and one third of the world besides. What was far more important was the towering certainty in those words, and Ganymede smiled shyly for it.

"Can I ask for something more, then?" His smile turned cheeky as Zeus stared at him and then chuckled, soft fingertips sliding up to comb through Ganymede's wet curls.

"You may."

"Can we..." There was no reason to pause or hesitate, truly. He wasn't going to ask for Hermes' winged sandals or Hera's bridal jewels, and he didn't need to ask for Zeus' heart because he already had it, but in some ways this was just as precious. "Stop and eat down here, before we go back? I'd like something familiar."

Ganymede's voice had dropped into a murmur as he spoke, his gaze dropping as well, watching water lick up and down and caress Zeus' flawless skin as they bobbed in the lake, effortlessly floating. That hadn't exactly been his full desire, but he thought Zeus would understand what he was asking for without fully articulating it. It wasn't that he couldn't, really, get ambrosia made in the shape and nearly exact tastes of food as he remembered growing up with, but he'd learned that, for as much more delightful ambrosia was for basically any- and everything else, when it came to that particular sort of food, it just wasn't the same.

"Ah, _Ganymede_." Zeus groaned and, with his hand sliding in deeper among sodden curls, tugged him up and kissed him until he was full of light and a slow, teasing heat, though Zeus also pulled back before it settled fully. Ganymede couldn't quite decipher the look on Zeus' face, but he had to look away from it, cheeks heating up. "There are many cities in the right range on our way back."

Zeus' smile was charged sparks and airy weight, and this time it was Ganymede who pulled himself in for another kiss, lazy enough it merely kept the dim glow of pleasure alive and didn’t fan it. Well, not _Ganymede’s_ low curl of desire, anyway. He couldn’t say anything about Zeus’ and the way his eyes darkened when Ganymede nipped his bottom lip right as he pulled away. Zeus only tugged sharply on a curl, however, one thick eyebrow sharply raised while Ganymede grinned shamelessly and ignored the faint rush of heat to his cheeks for the prickle along his scalp.

They stayed in the water for a little while longer before getting out, and Ganymede felt a thin crust of salt on his chin and jaw, the tops of his shoulders. It really was like bathing in the sea but several times worse when it came to the water drying. Grimacing, he uselessly brushed down his still-wet torso, knowing how this would feel when he dried up, and Zeus chuckled.

"Here."

Pulling Ganymede to stand close in front of him, he held his cupped hands above Ganymede’s head for an inscrutable moment. Water then spilled between his fingers, over the side of his palms, sweet and fresh, washing all that salt away. Zeus even dried him off with a soft ruffle of dry, hot air, and when they were both dressed, he pulled Ganymede close to his side, bending down to pick him up in his arms. 

Smiling brightly, Ganymede threw an arm around Zeus neck, though that was not necessary in the least considering the huge arms around him and the solid grip Zeus had on him… and this in contrast to the far more precarious clinging he’d done to the eagle’s back on the flight here.

Zeus looked down, meeting his eyes, the gray of his eyes soft like feathery down, and Ganymede smiled while his heart swelled with the sentiment clear as day in that look, in the contrast between how Zeus was holding him now and the flight of the eagle earlier. Zeus’ lips quirked into a small smile in response, and then he rose up in the air, turning towards the coast for the eventual goal of the Luwian lands along the southern coast of Anatolia.

Ganymede might kneel at the feet of the king of the gods whenever he wished him to, but as indulged as he was and enjoying the act itself, what hardship was that?

**Author's Note:**

> The title as well as the line _If I ever pleased your eyes, or seemed fair walled in with eagle's wings_ have been straight up cribbed from the 1559 play _The Tragedy of Dido_ , in which Ganymede and Zeus have a pretty delightful opening scene. :)


End file.
